Notes / Commercial Description:
A palate-punishing ale unlike any other
Never intended for the timid, Punishment is the capsaicin-throttled spawn of a beer behemoth, Double Bastard Ale. In this year’s brew, the flavors of Double Bastard Ale have been further enhanced by the bourbon barrel aging. The addition of chile peppers to the beer adds lingering flavors in the finish of subtle tropical fruit and some layers of heat along with the toffee, caramel malt and hop flavors.

A: Pours a murky brown/mahogany color with 2 fingers of head that slowly fades down to a thin cap/ring around the glass

S: Peppers, peppery heat, lots of malt, and the bourbon barrels (oak, vanilla, bourbon) all come out and try to fight for aromatic supremacy. The peppers win out by a hair (literally the peppers, not the heat). Quite balanced for what it is

T: Starts off with lots of peppery heat (definitely more of the heat this time) followed by the peppers, malty sweetness, bourbon, and vanilla. The woody oak takes some time to come through, hitting hardest once the heat has died down a touch. The heat lingers, but allows for all of the other flavors to come through nicely, most notably the vanilla and malty notes. The sweetness form these cuts the heat enough to the point where it's still in your face but not overwhelming. Finishes with lingering heat and some light vegetal pepper notes

M: Medium-full bodied with moderate carbonation. Slick

O: It seems like everyone who tries this and calls it too spicy doesn't get Stone and the fact that they hit home the point in everything they brew. No different here, which is why the beer is called Punishment. Definitely a brew for those who like EXTREMELY spicy foods (which is why I picked up both this and Crime and enjoyed both) and really not for anyone else. Just don't go on and bitch about it when there's a big explanation about how spicy the beer is on the back. You know damn well what you're getting into

Listen Guy, this is the worst beer I have ever had besides Crime. Do not waste your money, sobriety or time. The smell made me want to throw up. My 3 friends and I could not drink more than a sip each. We poured ours out and drank a Founders Backwoods Bastard to bring our palates back.

This beer is like drinking liquid Capsaicin - really there is not much else to say. There is so much spice heat in this beer that there really isn't much else that you notice. Awful, awful, terrible beer and I'm severely disappointed I bought it. Should have checked Beer Advocate's rating before plopping down $35 on this guy!

Let's be clear about something; if you can't handle heat, you aren't man (or woman) enough for this beer. 6 of us sampled this, and we all enjoyed it. I am not even a big fan of spice, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

A: Cloudy, murky and dark amber
S: peppers. Lots of peppers. It almost smells like a jalapeño pizza with extra jalapeños.
T: First, you're assaulted with a wave of intense heat. Take a small sip and swirl it just to coat your mouth and get the initial shock over with. After that, take the time to enjoy it. There is a lot of good in the taste, some caramel and roasted flavors, a little vanilla, and some buttery notes before being once again washed out by the heat. The finish is pure heat.
M: Dense and oily, this beer coats your throat the entire way down.
O: A rather enjoyable, if somewhat masochistic, brew from Stone. You will NOT want to finish a bottle on your own. I had about 4 ounces and was done. I could feel the capsaicin burn from my mouth all the way down into my stomach, and every burp tasted like jalapeño pizza afterwards. I'd honestly recommend anyone try this beer, just don't focus too much on the heat and it's pretty damn good.

Confession: I'm not big on hot peppers,but in recent years I've gotten a bit more into spicier foods. I'm a bit intimidated by this one. Deep brown hued with a bit of light haziness. A quarter inch of khaki colored head rests on top. Odd aroma from the chilies and peppers almost gives it a cinnamon sweet aroma. Not inviting. Whoa! That first taste tells me all I need to know. I'm way out of my league. All I get is a burning sensation and a scorched palate. My tongue and especially my lips are burned. I think my chances of finishing this are zero. I can't recall the last time that happened. I honestly poured the rest out without another sip. FAIL!

L: The beer pours hazy dark amber to chestnut under a thich cream colored film. S: Hot chili pepper aromas with some green chili vegetal aromas over bourbon. T: Chili pepper vegetal flavor and some malt are immediately blasted to oblivion by intense chili heat. The heat is too intense for any other flavor such as bourbon or bourbon barrel to come through. F: The beer has medium-low carbonation and medium-high body. O: This is a kind of beer that macho teenage boys dare themselves to drink. Adults might want to try something else.

Dark amber and ruby with a thin light brown head and leaves spotted lacing down the glass.

A touch of caramel in the aroma and then lots and lots of face-smacking spice--smells like spicy jalapeno juice. Interesting, though perhaps even too powerful.

This beer starts similarly to the aroma: a faint hint of caramel and toffee sweetness, and then a stinging, spice flavor. This one seemed even more hot and spicy than it's little brother, Crime. This is Crime on spicy steroids! Tough to drink much, if any, of this beer, though it is unique and worth trying (once!).

Quite hot but not overbearing. I quickly grew accustomed the heat but that made the flavor of the base beer more apparent which wasn't necessarily a good thing. This level of heat in a sour ale, like Upright's Fatali Four, would be great.

Again as with Crime I guess some bottles were too spicy? I don't know, there was definite spiciness there on the throat but it was a nice addition to the fruity caramel cream malt. I thought everything blended exceptionally from the high ABV to the peppers to the sweetness. A very good beer to sit down with on a cold night under the HD Fireplace. I'll drink the leftovers of this one, boys.